


It happens like this

by valderys



Category: Stargate Atlantis RPF
Genre: Infidelity, M/M, Yuletide 2006
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-29
Updated: 2010-07-29
Packaged: 2017-10-10 20:40:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/104043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valderys/pseuds/valderys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"What's it like?" Joe asks, and David looks at him oddly.</p><p>"It's only kissing," he says, "Just with a man. It's no different."</p>
            </blockquote>





	It happens like this

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mimm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/gifts).



When Joe's home, he's up to his ears in diapers and formula, and it feels like it's always been this way. He's a million miles from the Atlantis sets, light years from the Pegasus galaxy. Aiden and Truman are alternately excitable and clingy, they drive him a little bit insane. He's worried for Kath, because the new baby doesn't seem to be the same amount of work as the other two - it seems much more, like a third child ramps up the stress, and the sleepless nights, and the tension. They seem to argue all the time, and Joe finds himself out walking alone at night, when what he really needs is sleep. He thanks god for Sheppard, and his relatively few lines. He can slouch on set, and look like hell, but it's just Sheppard having the bad day, not Joe. Never Joe. And he phones Kath every night, when he's not at home, even when the rows get worse, because he can't not. He knows it's not helping, but he can't stop - _anything_. It's his _job_, as he says to Kath at least once per call.

He has to be in Vancouver, and it was Kath that chose to move back to California. But it's his job to be a good dad too, to be there for them all, and it's eating away at him that he can't be that. He can't be all that and Sheppard too.

Kath says that he doesn't need Sheppard. They have all the money they'll ever require - that his family will give them anything they ask for, and Joe knows that's true. But what he doesn't say, is that he needs Sheppard. He needs the man _because_ Sheppard's a loner, and he doesn't have a wife, or a family. His concerns are bigger than that - and smaller. The welfare of the entire city. His par in golf.

Some people say that Sheppard isn't a fully rounded character, that no-one knows anything about him, but that isn't true. Or isn't the whole truth, anyway. Joe knows plenty - he has to, in order to play him. He may have made it up and not the writers, but that doesn't make it any less real. Right now, Joe's glad Sheppard's got larger concerns. He really needs that. He does.

Jason helps too. He's so young, so full of energy - it's incredibly distracting. Joe wants to keep up with him, but it's hard work. It doesn't stop him trying. He always smiles when he remembers the trip to the skateboarding park. However dorky he looked. Trust Jason to spread that particular tale - and even follow it up with pictures. Hey, Joe's only following the terms of his contract. He thinks he looked - well, not cool, but at least sensible, in all his protective gear. And he has to be that, remember? Sensible. It's one of the unspoken parts of his contract with Kath.

Then there's Torri. Torri's a good friend. If he needs to forget, or relax, or unwind, or fucking well just get drunk, Torri's always there. She never asks questions either - which Joe had thought women were genetically incapable of resisting. He's happy to be proved wrong though. Kath asks questions. Questions about Torri sometimes, particularly after the kiss at ComicCon. He made a mistake there. Again. Kath's question's make him tired. Hand on his heart, he can honestly say he's never thought about it. Torri's just a friend. He'd never flirt in public like that, if she wasn't. Does Kath think he's stupid? He doesn't want the answer to that question either. Kath's just tired, looking after the boys. He has to remember that.

What he has is this.

A wide hand pulling him through a doorway, then splaying against his chest, as he's pushed against the wall. Hot breath speeding up as the stolen seconds become minutes. A warm palm cupping his chin, scraping at his stubble, and dragging against the grain. It stings a little, it makes him shiver. His heart pounds, and his eyesight blurs, as the Atlantis uniforms are carefully pushed aside by trembling fingers. The mouth around his cock is wide and firm. Beautiful. Joe bites the inside of his wrist, bites at the leather there, to stop his groans.

It's a heavy feeling. His climax is pulled out of him, almost protesting, he's grounded even as he flies. He should be ashamed, he thinks, and marvels that he isn't. This isn't a betrayal, although Kath won't see it that way. It _isn't_. It's not the same. This is nothing to do with Kath.

Joe just wants someone who won't be disappointed.

It happens like this.

"What's it like?" Joe asks, and David looks at him oddly.

"It's only kissing," he says, "Just with a man. It's no different."

"But you regretted it, you said," Joe insists, "I read that interview. You said you wished you'd never done Century Hotel."

David smiles crookedly and his eyes sparkle. "I say a lot of things. You know that. I suppose I regret the attention it receives."

Joe snorts. "You never regret attention - you love it."

David tips his head a little, and looks speculative. "I regret the prurience. I don't regret the kiss, or the performance. You should never regret passion."

"I don't," Joe protests, and David smiles again, wide and full and disbelieving.

"Show me," says Joe, just to watch the smile falter. Turn astonished.

David kisses like he treats everything in his life that matters. With dedication, and talent, and a surprising turn of speed.

Joe doesn't know why the joy is a surprise.


End file.
